The inventor herein has previously invented multiple designs for self-laminating wristbands principally for use with patients in a medical or hospital setting. Examples of these may be found in his previously-issued U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,933,993; 6,000,160; 6,067,739; 6,438,881; 6,510,634; and 6,685,228 along with other patent applications pending for further designs, improvements, and inventive techniques and methods relating thereto, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Included among these various inventions and designs are self-laminating wristbands intended for use with newborn babies including those delivered prematurely. As is well known, these babies and especially premature babies have extremely sensitive skin in many instances so that any wristband or other object placed around the baby's wrist or ankle must carefully allow for that sensitivity. Furthermore, babies are well known to move their arms and legs in a herky-jerky or flailing fashion, rub their eyes, and otherwise move about as they experience the new world that they have entered. In many instances, these newborn babies can become agitated and cry which can have a tendency to accentuate or intensify their arm and leg movements. Of course, as their hands, arms and legs move, they come in contact with other sensitive areas, such as, for example, their face, which could in some instances become scratched and in rare instances even injure the baby.
The inventor's previous designs include wristbands intended for these smaller babies including babies which might even be in intensive care and various features are provided to greatly minimize any possibility of discomfort, rash, or other injury to occur. Nevertheless, despite the great commercial success and widespread adoption and use of the inventor's wristband inventions, which have provided a significantly safer wristband for use with these babies, the inventor has continued his efforts to improve upon these designs even further so as to completely eliminate even the slightest possible chance of irritation or injury to the baby.
As a result of his continuing efforts, the inventor herein has succeeded in designing and developing a cushioned wristband which makes it virtually impossible for a baby, or indeed any patient, who wears this wristband to experience a rash, discomfort, or even any injury as a result of the patient's boisterous conduct. In simple terms, this latest invention of a cushioned wristband includes a cushioned carrier for extending around the patient's wrist or ankle with a fastening strap preferably sewn to and extending from one side thereof. The strap preferably has one surface covered with Velcro™ hook-type fastener material while the carrier has a surface covered with Velcro™ loop material. The opposite surface of the carrier which comes into contact with the patient's skin is preferably any hypoallergenic, soft, cushioning material. The strap is preferably sized to thread through a self-laminating tag which may be processed through a laser printer and is similar in construction to many of the inventor's previous wristband designs. In essence, this self-laminating tag preferably comprises an imaging area of face stock material and an underlying self-laminating portion approximately twice the size of the imaging area with cinch slots preferably positioned in the lamination and preferably on either side of the imaging area. While the strap passing through the cinch slots comprises the primary means for securing the label to the strap and thus the wristband, an adhesive patch on the top of the strap, or alternatively on the back of the id tag or both, stabilizes the id tag in relative position to the strap by closely adhering it to the back of the strap. Without the patch of adhesive, the id tag could shift around on the strap or bunch or kink, due to what might be a small circumference of a patient's wrist around which the id tag must wrap or the continued use of the wristband which exposes it to the thrashing about that a patient may do, or due to other reasons. This is particularly so with baby patients who have small wrists and a tendency to thrash about. As the patch of adhesive merely functions to “affix” or “position” the id tag with respect to the strap/carrier, means other than a layer of adhesive is contemplated for use herein. For example, a hook/loop fixative could be used, arranged in a myriad of ways, and used to fixate the id tag to either or both of the strap and cushioned carrier. One such way would be to merely affix a patch of hook material to the back of the id tag so that after it is slipped onto the strap and the strap is wrapped about the cushioned carrier, not only the strap hook surface but also the hook surface of the id tag would come into contact with the loop material on the back of the cushioned carrier thereby fixating it in place flat against the strap/cushioned carrier.
In use, the tag may be processed through a laser printer for printing with the patient's name, doctor's name, a barcode identifier, date of admission, and any other information as desired. The tag may then be separated from a sheetlet sized or page sized or other conveniently sized business form, the lamination folded over to self laminate the tag, and then applied to the carrier by inserting the strap through one of the cinch slots, removing the protecting covering of the adhesive to expose an underlying surface of adhesive, pressing the tag against the adhesive to adhere and thereby closely position it, and inserting the strap through the second slot. Once fully assembled, the wristband may then be wrapped around the baby's wrist and the strap affixed to the back of the carrier by joining the hook and loop material of a Velcro™ fastener to thus secure the wristband to the baby. Preferably, the wristband is sized to allow for the cushioning material to wrap entirely around the baby's wrist, ankle, etc., and preferably overlap so that just the cushioning material contacts the baby's skin.
A somewhat similar prior art device is shown in FIG. 1. It comprises a wristband 100P made of cushioning material 102P with a backing of Velcro™ loop material 104P, with a short strap 106P sewn to one side thereof and having a Velcro™ hook material 108P arranged for securing the wristband. Sewn on the back of the wristband is a panel 110P to which a patient label 112P may be adhered. This patient label 112P may be provided as part of another form and printed such as by processing through a laser printer. It is noted that the patient label is exposed and not laminated, thereby requiring it to be made of a resilient material such as a vinyl or other durable material to withstand the moisture, body fluids and other abuse it will receive. Furthermore, there is no positive or mechanical attachment of the patient label to the wristband so that as it becomes worn and abused, the patient label is likely to become illegible or even detach which could lead to failure of the wristband in its essential purpose of reliably identifying the baby. With the wristband of the present invention, the cinch slots provide a positive mechanical attachment of a laminated patient label which makes it virtually impossible for it to become illegible or detached, thereby providing dramatically improved performance. Additionally, the patch of adhesive reliably adheres the id tag in a flat orientation against the cushioning and eliminates any tendency for the id tag to “kink” or form sharp corners. Furthermore, the wristband may be removed and the adhesive patch ensures that the id tag does not fall off the wristband by unintentionally slipping through the cinch slots. The prior art patient label is not conveniently removed for refreshing the patient label with a new one, and instead it is thought that a new patient label would need to be adhered over the top of the existing patient label. This construction leads to attachment of a second patient label in a manner less secure than the original, unless extreme care is taken to prepare the panel for receiving the new patient label which is unlikely to happen in the hospital environment. Nurses have better things to do with their time than clean and prepare surfaces for receiving a new patient label. With the present invention, refreshment of id tag is rarely necessary, but if necessary, can be achieved in a few steps by removing the wristband, peeling the id tag from the adhesive patch, sliding off the old id tag and sliding on the new one, re-adhering the id tag to the adhesive patch, and then replacing the wristband back on the baby. No cleaning of a surface, or re-applying of an adhesive, is required. Furthermore, the replacement patient label is secured almost as well as the original patient label, depending on the characteristics of the adhesive chosen for the adhesive patch. A less aggressive adhesive would facilitate replacement of id tags without significant loss of adhesion although the level of adhesion would not be as great should a more aggressive adhesive be chosen for use. For those applications where replacement of id tags is not contemplated, a more aggressive adhesive would be preferable. Less aggressive adhesives would be preferable should replacement of the id tag be contemplated, such as when it is desirable for cost or other reasons to re-use the underlying cushion band. The present invention thus represents a dramatic step forward over the prior art construction disclosed herein.
There are many new features and advantages provided by the present invention. Some of these include the following. The self-laminating tag may be conveniently provided on a sheetlet or full-page size form for convenient processing through a laser printer at the time of admission along with other forms including other wristbands and labels as may be later used for the baby. Or, a laminating id tag portion of a full wristband may have its strap cut off to harvest it for use with the cushioning band. Thus, the advantages as noted in the inventor's prior patents are carried forward with this invention in that regard. The self-laminating tag may be firmly secured either loosely or closely about the baby's wrist or ankle with only a cushioning material contacting the baby's skin to thereby provide reliable identification with a durable tag yet without any discomfort to the baby. The carrier is adjustable as it can be wrapped around itself to provide a variable length so that it may be used with patients of different size or age. In other words, the wristband carrier is sized and arranged with its hook and loop fastener to be adjustable in length and fit either loosely or tightly to the patient's appendage. The hang tag may be attached with either one or both of the cinch slots, as desired. If attached with a single cinch slot, the tag in essence is free to move with respect to the wristband and thereby be more readily accessible and remain flat for easier bar code scanning. If attached with the strap extending through both slots, the tag may be secured more tightly against the strap/carrier and adhered with the adhesive patch, be reliably positioned along the length of the strap/carrier, be less likely to kink or bunch up away from the strap/carrier, be less subject to inadvertent detachment, and be less likely to be inadvertently brought into contact with the baby. More specifically, the adhesive patch provides the advantage of closely adhering the length of the id tag to the cushioned band, thereby minimizing any tendency of the id tag to “kink” or buckle to form sharp corners or separate from the band and be available to possibly injure the baby as he/she thrashes about, as babies commonly do. The patch also serves to reliably position the id tag along the length of the strap so that it doesn't slide around. These advantages makes it easier to read any information printed on the label as the wristband is used and would otherwise tend to experience wear and tear or mis-alignment.
The wristband is relatively inexpensive yet durable and flexible in that, should a tag be desired to be changed as a result of heavy abuse, it may be conveniently done without reprocessing through a printer or the like in many instances as additional tags may be conveniently printed at the time of admission. By being self laminating, the tag is protected from the various bodily fluids likely for it to come in contact with as the baby is fed or administered medicine orally, the baby drools, and the baby otherwise performs its bodily functions. If used as a hang tag, it is more readily detachable, and the carrier may be reused as desired such as in shortage or emergency situations thereby making the entire wristband system more flexible. Indeed, the carrier may itself be washed and re-used in that same regard. The hang tag may be provided as part of a larger assemblage of wristband forms such that a single set of forms may be preprinted and available for usage as the baby's stay progresses and even to accommodate those relatively small percentage of occasions when the baby is kept for an extended stay.
While the principal advantages and features of the invention have been briefly described above, a more thorough understanding and appreciation for the invention and its advantages may be obtained by referring to the drawings and description of the preferred embodiment which follow.